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Corona previews spring and summer parks schedule: inaugural Music & Arts Festival, Movies in the Park, Trails Day and trailhead upgrades
Summary
City staff previewed Corona's spring and summer parks schedule — headlined by an inaugural Music & Arts Festival April 19 and a broader slate of Movies in the Park, camps and the household hazardous-waste roundup — and outlined trailhead upgrades, ongoing maintenance metrics and volunteer activities.
City parks and recreation staff told the Corona City Parks and Recreation Commission about a packed spring and summer calendar and several maintenance and trails upgrades intended to expand programming and improve safety.
Key events and programs: Staff highlighted the inaugural Music & Arts Festival set for Saturday, April 19 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the Historic Civic Center lawn. The all-day festival will feature about 50 vendors, hands-on arts activities every hour, artisan demonstrations and headline performances; a beer-and-wine garden is planned and the program will close with an evening headliner.
Summer programming: Staff said summer-activity registration opens April 14 and promoted a new, expanded Movies in the Park series (family-friendly titles at rotating neighborhood parks) and a returning summer street fair series with themed tribute acts on Thursday nights. Camps, tennis, the kids club and other seasonal offerings were noted in the summer brochure distribution.
Trails, landscaping and maintenance: Parks staff reported ongoing trailhead enhancements that will standardize amenities across trailheads (drinking fountain, bench, trash can, bike-repair station and informational kiosk) and new wayfinding maps. Butterfield Battlefield and other trailhead sites are receiving infrastructure work; Trails Day is scheduled for April 26 and will include Corona Fire prevention staff, Corona PD, Riverside County Sheriff representatives and local bike groups.
Arbor Day and volunteer program: Staff recapped Arbor Day work and the city's strong volunteer program. Staff reported that volunteers and donated materials were used for recent plantings; the transcript included a specific tree count but not a confirmed volunteer tally, so staff numbers for volunteers were not specified in the meeting record. Waste Management donated compost for the Arbor Day effort.
Field and landscape maintenance: Staff said field renovation has been paused in some locations while the city prepares sites for formal construction; however fields remain in use and rentable. The city reported quarterly maintenance metrics including roughly 2,700 tree trims in the quarter, 410 SeeClickFix tickets processed for graffiti abatement covering about 40,000 square feet, and 306 Parkway tickets. Staff said they are reverting to weekly mowing in active turf areas and trimming and shrub maintenance is ongoing after recent rains.
Public comments: Two public speakers commented. Bill Nash (who identified himself as "Grandpa Nash") thanked the city and specifically Donna Finch and Commissioner Tom Munoz for helping local Scouts earn landscaping-related merit badges, saying the program had been a “great experience.” Keith Pearson, representing a youth program called the OG Ducks, asked about contingency plans for organizations that use City Park now that the site is slated for remodeling. Donna Finch replied that City Park remains open and rentable, that staff will work with users to identify temporary sites, and that staff would follow up with the OG Ducks after the public-comment period.
Facilities and future items: Staff previewed upcoming council items including the HCC operations plan and proposed athletic-field rates; staff noted the Community Services spring financial workshop with council and that several items will return to the commission in May (budget/CIP review, Skyline master plan update and field maintenance standards).
Staff changes: Staff announced that Recreation Manager Jason Lass (presenter identified in the record as Mr. Lass) has accepted a position with the city of Ontario and that this was his last commission meeting; commissioners offered thanks and congratulations.
Speakers and sources: Updates were presented by Community Services staff (Donna Finch, recreation staff, parks/trails staff including a Mr. Cortez) and discussed by commissioners. Two members of the public provided on-record comments during public communications.
